Free Atlantis Awakening by Alyssa Day

deserve to know,” she said, wrapping both hands around her coffee cup. “There are…rumors…that Caligula turned my sister vampire. That may have something to do with whatever twisted reason he has for coming after me. I…I may have to face Deirdre when we find him, and I’m not sure I could bear to see her harmed.”
    â€œMaybe she’s a good vampire?” Denal offered, doubt apparent in his voice in spite of his words.
    Justice snorted. “There is no such thing. Hasn’t the last decade proven anything to you? No longer content to haunt the shadows, now they stalk right out in the open. Aided every step of the way by you pitiful humans, who all but declared open season on your own fool selves.”
    The contempt in his voice pissed her off. “Don’t judge us, Atlantean. Last I looked, vampires weren’t the only ones hiding in the shadows. Not much in the news about a race of Atlantean super-warriors helping humanity, is there?”
    Before he could respond, the crashing sound of something—or someone—smashing through glass sounded from the hall. In an instant, the four warriors were running for the door.
    â€œStay here,” Ven barked out at her over his shoulder as he ran.
    â€œNot likely,” Erin said, and then she raised her hands in the air and began to chant.

Chapter 6
    Justice was the first to make it to the doorway, unsheathing his sword as he ran, but Ven was right behind him. Crouching low, he burst into the hallway next to Justice, prepared for shape-shifters, human minions from Caligula’s forces, damn near anything.
    Anything except what he saw lying on the floor about twenty feet from him. He jerked to a stop so suddenly that Alexios crashed into his back.
    â€œBrake lights next time,” Alexios snarled. “What is it?”
    â€œI don’t know. I think it may be a bomb.” Ven was almost surprised to hear how calm his voice was, all things considered. The wooden crate surrounding the…thing…had splintered at the force of impact. He looked up and verified that the sound of smashing glass had come from the skylight.
    â€œThere’s no possible way that metal container is a bomb. A bomb would have gone off on impact,” Justice pointed out.
    â€œYeah? Then you go check it out. Maybe they threw some kind of magic shield around it. I’d watch out for the flashing red numbers there on the side that seem to be counting down,” Ven said, calculating the odds of survival as slim to no-fucking-way.
    39, 38, 37, 36…
    â€œThose are seconds, not minutes, and we’d have no time to defuse a bomb even if Christophe were here,” Ven said. “We’ve got to get out.”
    â€œWhat if we throw water at it?” Denal asked. “Really drown the thing?”
    The flashing numbers mocked them. 28, 27, 26, 25…
    â€œWho the hells knows? We’d probably just have a wet bomb,” Ven said. “Out! Now!”
    He was already turning to run back toward the kitchen and get Erin out of there when he heard her clear voice chanting in a language something like Latin, but not. As she walked down the hall toward them, he started yelling, “It’s a bomb, we have to get out of here now.” He raced toward her and smashed up against an unseen force that pushed him back against the wall.
    â€œNot now, Ven, there’s no time, we have to diminish the impact,” she said, then continued chanting, her arms lifted in the air. For a heart-stoppingly brief moment, he saw a vision of another Erin superimposed over her body. The vision Erin stood, bathed in soft silver light, dressed in blue silk robes, standing in his favorite palace garden.
    He blinked, hard, and sanity surfaced. “Look, Erin, unless you have a magic make-the-bomb-disappear spell, I’m getting you out of here,” he yelled at her.
    Then he turned to check out the timer on the bomb. The blinking red